The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1887-04-09
Ir6aibIin'S New YORK Letter.
Special to the CARBON ADVOCATE.

Special to the CARBON ADVOCATE.
Wanted, Il ianilor; apply at the Equitable
Life Insurance building, Broadway, New
York city. Salary $4,000 per annum. On
Broadway between Pine and Cedar streets
Is a huge building of granite, stately and
grand in its proportions, and one of the
most striking and imposing structures on
that imperial thoreughfare. 1t will not be
many years before Broadway viii stand un-
rivalled by any great avenue in the world
for the costly grandeur of its buildings,
which are the stately offices of the merch- |
ant princes of our land, of which New
York is the commercial queen. From the
point at the Bowling Green where the great
tower of the Produce Exchange stands out
in bold relief against the sky to where the
beautiful cross crowns the tapering spire OF
Grace Church. there is not another struc- |
ture that in massive grandeur will compare
with the Equitable Life Insurance building.
From time to time additions have been
made to it, but recently the most radical
change has been effected and the new adj
ditions, now almost completed, exceed the
size of the original building OF this mag
nifcent palace Thomas Cleary was janitor
and he was at the same time an Alderman
of the City Of New York, The revelations
of the past week have materially modified
our views and enlightened us in regard to
the dignity and responsibility of the Office
of janitor and we have taken a new de-
parture. In the olden time we looked upon
janitor as a person who swept out offices,
busted off desks, who cleaned out spittoOns
and who found his most valuable perquis-
ties in the waste paper basket which an
ill-advised generosity allowed him to plum
der But if this sort of a janitor ever
: existed he will now have to be sought
among the fossiIiverous fragments of the
p silurian age. or in remote country towns
y whose primitive barbarism has as yet been
untouched by the advancing civilization of
our cities,
. 1t is not many years since Thomas Cleary
r landed from Ireland at Castle Garden, his
i earthly possessions being tied up in faded
;, cotton handkerchief his clothes were of
!. the kind worn by the poorest of the Irish
!, peasantry; he had no: a nickel in his pock-
. ct. and as he stroled up Broadway, stop
ping to take a good look at Trinity spire, in
# his widest dream he could scarcely have
= conceived that in the not distant future he
If would be looked upon as one of the fathers
of this great city, and his vote as American
le citizen, which was only worth fifty cents
10 two weeks after lie landed, as New York
,f Alderman, when a railroad franchise was
IF up, would be worth the magnificent sum Of
" twenty thousand dollars.
a While l write, on the table before me is .
list of Mr.. Cleary's compatriots and coad
tutors in the Board of Aldermen which ha;
al now become immortal in infamy. The
N names are suggestive and every one of then
rs not convicted and in States Prison is now
le under indictment. The first on the list /:
'e Thomas Cleary, then come Robert d. Lacy
s. Charles Dempsey, Michael Duffy, of Duffy
Il, vile, Patrick Farley, Patrick Kenny
rs McCabe, Michael Mclaughlin, Arthur J
H. and Charles H. Reilly. Mr.. Cleary, whose
m name heads this precious list was not lont
in getting job; the freize coat, 1.-The brogue
and baubeen gave way to superfne broad
II, cloth, patent leather and shiney hat; thu
III poor immigrant who considered himsel
e. well paid in Ireland at five or six pounds
nc year was not long in reaching point wher
us he tucked away thousand dollar bills in hi
rs old tin box as his grandfather did sods o
el turf outside Of his cabin door in Wicklow
W No sweeping or spittoon cleaning for Thoe
u' Cleary! Why, man, he was receiving sal
IL ary equal to that of the Governor of til
eu State of New York. yes, equal to that G
* the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court c
EN- the United States! With this golden .nau
ee of wealth came the tremendous possibilitie
I'll of political advancement. The ward tina
lie Alderman Cleary represented is next to tn
IN ward largely made up of banks, offices IN
NJ stores; within its lines millions of wealt
are stored, and while it is the hive of bus!
pushing thousands during the day. at nigl
it is abandoned to policemen and janitor
81, the entire resident population being le,
yill than n thousand. though the abunda,
Tx, votes turned out by its ballot boxes ha,
er- frequently turned an election. In contr
yes distinction of all the other indicted Aide
as men, Thomas Cleary took the stand in Ii
ers own behalf, and the judge, jury and pros
ian cutting attorney opened their eyes as lie to
nns the story of the thousand dollar bills whit
ant he had tucked away in his old tin box.
pu- staggered the jury so that they were col
'os- PEELED to discharge them. and for a time
Ire- least Thomas Cleary Is safe. 1t is moral
IN certain that even if he did bag TWEEN
'd' thousand of the swag he will meyer do
an again; but in view of the unsavory associ
iet- tions and unpleasant notoriety, | am anA
on ous to see If his place has become vacan
and, am expecting hourly to see the a
de- Observation-Disclosures, a janitor "
'!' Bravo, brayissimo Cornelius Vanderbilt
He has presented to the Metropolitan MI
cum of Art, Rosa Bonheur's masterpie
''The Horse Fair" For sixteen years
, has hung in the Stewart mansion, al
VI" hardly a mortal eye outside of Judge II
TOMS immediate friends has ever been pc
~ mitted TO look upon it. Henceforth Il
name of Stewart and Hilton are complete
wiped out from its connection and it pass
.T into history for all coming time as the il
'D' pcrial gift of Vanderbilt, 1t is only
little time since one member of the fami
endowed one of the finest hospitals in &
irs Union, and another member added bran
mt. where poor mothers in the perils of chill
IN, birth might receive as good medical ASST
-o,t ance as any lady IN the land. 1t is pret
loo. evident now that each member of this fa
90, lily will leave some grand monument behi
hin, n bich shall ,,ass his mama with hl,